Department of Management Services

Capitol Complex Information

Florida's Capitol Complex includes a 22-story executive tower with domed House and Senate chambers. The Historic Capitol is directly in front of the tower (to the east) with the House and Senate chambers to its north and south.

The New York firm of Edward Durell Stone & Associates designed the Capitol Complex in cooperation with Reynolds, Smith and Hill of Jacksonville. Different from the proposed Capitol Center of 1948, the Florida Cabinet approved a comprehensive plan for the surrounding Capitol Center and the new Capitol Complex in 1969. The site plan added a section of Adams Street between the Historic Capitol and the Supreme Court Building to the west. When an artist drawing omitted the Historic Capitol, indecision over the need for the building and/or how to renovate it slowed the construction start date.

The first phase of the new Capitol Complex started in June 1970 with site preparation of the House and Senate's five-story office buildings. These buildings were designed to provide legislative committee rooms and member offices.

Excavated in November 1973, the three lower level floors of the Capitol are below street level. The steel structure was completed by 1975. Concrete the equivalent of four football fields three feet thick (25,000 cubic yards) was used for the project. It took three years and ten months for the 718,080 sq. ft. Capitol to be declared complete in August 1977. The Executive Tower main floor is 206 ft. above sea level, which puts the 300 ft. building's top at 506 ft. above sea level. With the west plaza unfinished, the building was officially opened for the 1978 legislative session.

Capitol Complex

The Capitol Complex, by statute, includes the Capitol, Historic Capitol, Senate Office Building, House Office Building, Knott Building, Pepper Building, Holland Building, and the curtilage of each. Additionally, it includes the Capital Circle Office Center (CCOC) located in the southeast section of Tallahassee.

Capitol Center

The Capitol Center includes the central city Capitol Complex and all other state-owned facilities bounded by and including Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, College Avenue and the CSX railroad tracks.

Capital Circle Office Center

The Capital Circle Office Center (CCOC) is located in the southeast section of Tallahassee. It consists of several high performance buildings designed for efficient operation, low maintenance costs and extended lifecycle. Specialty use buildings are constructed separate from the office buildings in order to efficiently and effectively manage the periodic transition of activities and tasks performed by the agency tenants. The CCOC has received national awards for innovation, and the attention of many other states due to the potential benefits from this successful development.

In 2010, DMS constructed four LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings at the CCOC. These buildings reduce the state’s energy needs and provide productive space for the agency occupants.